Public or Private? An Analysis of the Legal Status of Rights of Way in Norfolk

Abstract

ABSTRACT The development of the English landscape in the post-medieval period is often viewed as a process of privatisation particularly involving enclosure and the removal of common rights. It also involved – the focus of this paper – the closure or diversion of roads and footpaths through various legal devices. The morphology of rights of way structures how people navigate and experience the landscape, and a close examination of the changing status of rights of way can provide important insight into the character and extent of the privatisation process. Through a detailed analysis of the three main sources used in legal disputes concerning the status of roads and footpaths – enclosure awards, tithe apportionments and the 1910 Finance Act documents – the changing status of rights of way can be analysed within their wider context. This Norfolk case study demonstrates that sustained communal activity could reverse this process of privatisation. In the present day, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 requires all public rights of way to be recognised and their statuses confirmed by 1 January 2026; our understanding of the status of rights of way has never had such important legal, political and historical ramifications. This study illustrates how a landscape history approach can throw important light on an issue of more than academic significance. Abbreviations: TNA: The National Archives; NRO: Norfolk Record Office